Foxes legend Walsh relishing Rams cup tie

Former Leicester City star Steve Walsh says he can’t wait for the Foxes to go head-to-head with Derby County in the FA Cup this weekend.

The Premier League champions will travel to Pride Park on Friday night for the fourth round encounter, which will be screened live on terrestrial TV.

And the former Leicester captain is relishing the prospect.

He said: ““I’m ecstatic with the draw. I love the atmosphere of matches against local rivals.

“It will be great to be there and I’m sure it’s going to bring back some great memories from games that I have been involved in. I will never forget playing at the old Baseball Ground with Archie Gemmill; they were great days.”

As a matter of fact, most City fans will know that Walsh has enjoyed his own personal illustrious history with this particular fixture, having seen him net twice against the Rams in the 1994 play-off final at Wembley.

Constantly reminded of this ahead of any match-up between the Foxes and the Rams. Walsh, who is now a coach said: “Of course, the two goals at Wembley stick in the mind! Actually, being 4-0 up after 20 minutes at Pride Park - that was also class.”

Claudio Ranieri’s team will have to put in a good performance to earn a positive result and progress to the next round according to the 52-year-old.

He said: “Leicester will have to try and cut out silly mistakes. They will be well organised though and have that extra class and strength in depth. Hopefully, the pace of Leicester will be used to hit Derby on the counter-attack.”

Having managed to get the better of Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park in the last round courtesy of an Ahmed Musa brace, the Foxes were drawn against Steve McClaren’s men.

Walsh believes another victory in the historic competition could see the Foxes fly up the Premier League table. He said: “It would certainly be a big boost to win. That winning mentality is crucial, especially with the Champions League around the corner, which could be the preference.

“It’s a difficult one for Claudio as squad rotation will probably come into play. He has a hard job knowing when to rest players but he’s done a great job so far.”

Walsh is confident though, cheekily predicting a 2-0 win for the Foxes with Jamie Vardy the first to net for the visitors.